MOST RECENT STORIES

USC

USC athletic director Pat Haden announced via Twitter he would not attend this week’s College Football Playoff Selection Committee in Indianapolis because of the state of Indiana’s recently-signed “religious freedom” law, which allows businesses to turn away gay and lesbian customers. Haden, who is a member of the CFP committee, tweeted “I am the proud father of a gay son,”...

Prosthetic technology

LOS ALAMITOS >> Faith Lennox’s parents said the 7-year-old was so excited to try on her new arm that she barely slept during the night. A birth defect caused Lennox’s left arm to be amputated just below the elbow when she was 9 months old. Lennox, who lives in Lakewood with her family, used an electronic hand and prosthetic arm when she was 3, but grew out of it in two years. Her parents didn’t replace it because their insurance company was hassling them...

Movie Reviews

NEW YORK — A day after Trevor Noah was declared the new host of “The Daily Show,” complete with the blessing of the exiting Jon Stewart, graphic tweets targeting women, Jews and victims of the Ebola virus are causing a social media backlash. By Tuesday, Trevor Noah was a trending topic on Twitter as he drew fire for jokes described as tasteless, hateful — and unfunny. Rosanne Barr was among those calling out the 31-year-old South African comic, who has an...

By FRAZIER MOORE
AP Television Writer
|2 hrs ago

Automotive accidents

IRWINDALE - Authorities Tuesday identified a San Francisco man who was killed on the eastbound Foothill (210) Freeway west of the San Gabriel River (605) Freeway in the Irwindale area, when he got out of his car after a solo crash and was struck by a big rig. The crash was reported about 1:30 a.m. Monday, according to the California Highway Patrol. Mingyi Zhen, 18, died at the scene, said coroner’s Assistant Chief Ed Winter. CHP Sgt. Mike Dulong said the investigation...

City News Service
|2 hrs ago

Student loans

WASHINGTON — Sarah Dieffenbacher is on a debt strike. She’s refusing to make payments on the more than $100,000 in federal and private loans she says she owes for studies at a for-profit college that she now considers so worthless she doesn’t include it on her resume. The “debt strike” sentiment is catching on. Calling themselves the “Corinthian 100” — named for the troubled Corinthian Colleges, Inc., which operated Everest...

KIMBERLY HEFLING
AP Education Writer
|2 hrs ago

Home prices

WASHINGTON — U.S. home price increases continued to rise at a steady pace in January, as the housing market deals with affordability problems and few properties listed for sale. The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index rose 4.6 percent in January compared with 12 months earlier, S&P said Tuesday. That is up from growth of 4.4 percent in December. Few Americans have listed their homes for sale, with the tight inventory keeping prices...

By JOSH BOAK
AP Economics Writer
|3 hrs ago

Roman Catholicism

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican is defending Pope Francis’ appointment of a Chilean bishop despite allegations from victims that the prelate had covered up for a pedophile priest. A Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Ciro Benedettini, said Tuesday that before Monsignor Juan Barros was named to be bishop of Osorno, Chile, the Holy See’s Congregation for Bishops “carefully examined the prelate’s candidature and didn’t find objective reasons to preclude the...

Associated Press
|3 hrs ago

Foreign policy

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Wrapping up six days of marathon nuclear talks with mixed results, Iran and six world powers prepared Tuesday to issue a general statement agreeing to continue negotiations in a new phase aimed at reaching a comprehensive accord by the end of June, officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The joint statement is to be accompanied by additional documents that outline more detailed understandings, allowing the sides to claim enough progress has been...

By GEORGE JAHN and MATTHEW LEE
Associated Press
|4 hrs ago

Emissions laws and regulations

WASHINGTON — The United States will pledge Tuesday to cut its greenhouse gas emissions up to 28 percent as part of a global treaty aimed at preventing the worst effects of climate change. The Obama administration’s contribution to the treaty codifies a commitment President Barack Obama first made late last year in Beijing. That’s where Obama announced a joint U.S.-China climate deal that raised global hopes that developed and developing nations can come together to...

By JOSH LEDERMAN
Associated Press
|4 hrs ago

Political scandals

WASHINGTON — Hillary Rodham Clinton emailed her staff on an iPad as well as a BlackBerry while secretary of state, despite her explanation she exclusively used a personal email address on a homebrew server so that she could carry a single device, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. The State Department released a total of four emails between Clinton and her top advisers as part of a Freedom of Information Act request filed in 2013 by the AP, which sought...